Nature’s resilience and ability to bounce back are awe inspiring. Five years ago, when we built our current net-zero house, we guiltily took down some trees (we’ve replanted lots and lots since), we disrupted nature all around with heavy machinery and lots of construction noise, earth moving and construction work.

It’s taken some time for nature to jumpstart the regeneration effort, but it’s roaring now. This year especially it struck me how many new trees are popping up everywhere, how fast they are growing, and how many animals are coming again through our property, either for brief visits or for moving in. Bears, racoons, deer, groundhogs, garter and black racer snakes, lizards and salamanders, box turtles, foxes, squirrels and chipmunks, in addition to hawks, several types of woodpeckers, a whole host of birds, praying mantises, and butterflies are among the visible and apparent species.

Nature is powerful, intuitive, resilient, relentless, and sustainably so much smarter than us. It knows what to do. It is flexible. It is patient. It is very forgiving, until it’s not. Nature let’s us learn, and mess up, and make good again, as long as we respect it. What has nature taught you?